Some Historic Notes and Observations on

The island of Cancún (see Figure 1, below) was known as "Nizuc " in early Colonial times. This may have been its original prehispanic name. Nizuc may have also been the name of the largest prehispanic settlement on the island, which would be the combined archaeological sites of El Rey and San Miguel. The LePlongeons, who visited this site in 1877, referred to the ruins as Nizucte (Alice Plongeon 1886: 11), one of the names of the main lagoon behind the island.1 There are 11 known prehispanic archaeological sites on the island, many of them documented by several travelers and archaeologists since the mid-19th century, and more recently by the 1975-76 project conducted under the auspices of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia of Mexico (I.N.A.H.).2 With the exception of a Late Preclassic midden, most of these sites were occupied during the Postclassic period, and may have been inhabited when the Spanish arrived. However, they were likely abandoned shortly thereafter, as there is no mention of the island in the accounts of the conquistadors and friars who traveled along the coast in the 16th century. Several additional prehispanic sites and one historic site have been reported on the adjoining mainland.3 1 The main lagoon that separates the island from the mainland was known in the 19th century as Laguna Nichucté, and today as Laguna Nichupté